US embassy cable - 05HARARE971

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000971 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR CA/OCS STEVE DONLON, DS/LEC, DS/ICI/PF 
 
JOHANNESBURG FOR DHS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, ASEC 
SUBJECT: DEATH OF US CITIZEN IMPOSTOR 
 
REF: HARARE 000894 
 
REFTEL REPORTED THE DEATH OF US CITIZEN WILLIAM TAYLOR 
(DPOB: 27SEP1953; CHICAGO, IL) ON JUNE 15, 2005 IN BULAWAYO, 
ZIMBABWE. POST HAS NOW CONFIRMED THAT THE DECEASED WAS 
NOT/NOT WILLIAM TAYLOR AND NOT/NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. POST 
BELIEVES THE DECEASED MAY HAVE BEEN A CZECH CITIZEN NAMED 
VLADIMIR SABL. 
 
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Summary 
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1. During the search for Mr. Taylor's next of kin, Consul 
repeatedly encountered seeming inconsistencies between the 
life of the man who lived and died as William Taylor (DPOB: 
27Sep1953; Chicago, IL) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe for the past 
twelve years and the William Taylor whose passport 
application was on file with the Department of State. For 
example, despite having a 1951 Chicago birth certificate to 
native-born American citizen parents and having never 
applied for a US passport prior to 1992, friends and 
associates of the deceased in Bulawayo uniformly told Consul 
that he spoke fluent Czech, Polish and Spanish, spoke 
English with a heavy Czech accent and that he had told them 
he was born in Czechoslovakia. 
 
2. Based on these inconsistencies and in close cooperation 
with ARSO, Consul launched an investigation into the 
citizenship of the man who died as William Taylor in 
Bulawayo on June 15, 2005, hereafter referred to as 
"DECEASED." After reviewing the following evidence, Consul 
has reached the conclusion that the DECEASED was not/not 
William Taylor or, in fact, an American citizen. 
 
3. Consul believes that the DECEASED may have been a Czech 
national named Vladimir Sabl(DPOB: 16Mar1951; Prague-Podoli, 
Czechoslovakia) who had lived in the United States during 
the late 80s and early 1990's and may have fraudulently 
obtained US passport 029345064 in the name William Taylor in 
1992. If this is true, the DECEASED may have faked his own 
death in Prague in 1995 and gone into a partnership in a 
gold-mining venture with his widow in Zimbabwe. 
 
4. The following evidence was also reviewed with the local 
Czech consul who concurs the above may be true and has 
launched his own investigation and notified the Czech 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. End Summary. 
 
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Why the deceased wasn't Mr. Taylor. 
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5. The first and only US passport application in PIERS for 
William Taylor was made at a US post office in Chicago, IL 
in 1992. The identifying documents used to obtain the 
passport were an Illinois driver's license (number 
illegible) and a Cook County Birth Certificate (copy 
available at post). The photo on the passport application is 
believed to be that of the DECEASED. 
 
6. Based on the initial clues of accent and language 
ability, Consul and ARSO requested a Criminal History 
Inquiry on William Taylor, using the date, place of birth 
and Social Security number on his 1992 passport application. 
The Diplomatic Security Law Enforcement Center (LEC) 
promptly provided a criminal history for Mr. Taylor that 
includes numerous arrests in multiple states (AZ, OR, NJ, NC 
and NM) during the time that the deceased was living in 
Zimbabwe without a valid US passport. 
 
7. ARSO was able to locate a photo of William Taylor taken 
by the Oregon DMV on January 31, 2000 that clearly shows a 
different man than the one in the 1992 US passport 
application and the DECEASED'S 1995 Zimbabwe Residency 
Permit. Post has also requested a 1980 INS photo of Vladimir 
Sabl to complete the comparison. As Consul was notified of 
the DECEASED'S death ten days after the fact, she was not 
able to visually ID the DECEASED. However, in every 
interview with the DECEASED'S friends and colleagues, they 
verified that the man they knew as William Taylor was the 
one in the passport photo. 
 
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Why the deceased may have been Mr. Sabl 
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8. ARSO ran a credit history check of Vladimir Sabl which 
indicates that in 1993 his home address was 7034 Cermak 
Road, Berwyn, Il 60402. This address is about 3 miles from 
5242 W 31st Street, Cicero, Il 60804, where William Taylor 
was living with his mother, Julia Merritt Taylor, at the 
same time. 
 
9. DS LEC also ran a Criminal History Inquiry on Mr. Sabl 
which revealed an arrest on immigration charges by INS 
Chicago on October 24, 1980 for a visa overstay. This record 
for A22683056 indicates that a fingerprint card and photo 
are on file. Working with DHS Investigator in Johannesburg, 
Consul has requested a copy of that file and photograph for 
comparison to local photos of the deceased and arrest photos 
of William Taylor. 
 
10. After reviewing the DECEASED'S personal documents that 
were found in the room he was renting in Bulawayo, Consul 
discovered Czech-language records with certified English 
translations that chronicled the life of a Czech man named 
Vladimir Sabl. These include: 
 
-Mr. Sabl's birth certificate; 
-Mr. Sabl's August 25, 1972 marriage certificate to 
Miloslava (Milena) Vestfalova (DPOB: 24May1952; Prague-Nove 
Mesto, Czechoslovakia); 
-Mr. Sabl's April 22, 1995 death certificate of a fatal lung 
tumor in Prague. 
 
11. These documents were found in a plastic folder that also 
contained: 
 
-a photocopy of William Taylor's US birth certificate; 
 
-photocopy of the face page of William Taylor's US passport 
029345064; 
 
-a Zimbabwe residency permit in the name William Taylor(with 
a photo of the DECEASED) from March 19, 1995 to March 19, 
1997; 
 
-a letter dated April 5, 2000 addressed to the U.S. Embassy 
in Harare requesting a replacement for a stolen passport. 
This letter lists the DECEASED's then-fiance, Sioneni 
Mbedzi, as his contact person. 
 
 
12. Among several hundred pages of personal and business 
documents left by the DECEASED, Consul believes the 
following may help explain who the DECEASED was and why he 
would have followed this curious path: 
 
-The DECEASED incorporated a company named S.A.B.L Travel 
Consultants Ltd. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on December 17, 1993. 
 
-On June 13, 1995, Miloslava Vestfalova Sablova signed a 
power of attorney document in Prague authorizing Mr. Petr 
Jirousek (DOB: 15Nov1950) to "transfer shares of Vladimir 
Sabl. at the company S.A.B.L. TRAVEL Consultants, Limited 
and S.I.T. Foreign Trade/Private/Limited." A copy of this 
document with a certified English-language translation was 
found in the DECEASED'S files. 
 
-On May 21, 1996 in Prague Petr Jirousek, Frantisek Pacholik 
and Milena Sablova in "(their) capacity as directors of 
S.A.B.L. Travel Consultants Limited and S.I.T. Foreign Trade 
Limited" appointed "Mr. William Taylor born 27 September 
1953 to represent S.A.B.L. Travel Consultants Limited and 
S.I.T. Foreign Trade Limited" and "authorize(d) this person 
to execute all necessary actions related to these 
companies."  This English-language Power of Attorney was 
also found in the DECEASED'S possession. 
 
-An Affidavit dated May 30, 1996 also found in the 
deceased's records reports the following: "I, the 
undersigned, Pavel Simek in my capacity sender of the mining 
equipment shipment B/L Number ZW1566DE for SABL Trading 
Company, addressed to Mr. William Taylor, 22 Wotton Cres. 
Montrose Bulawayo Zimbabwe, hereby proclaim a mistake in the 
company name which is rightfully S.I.T. Foreign Trade Ltd. 
To Mr. William Taylor 22 Wotton Crescent Montrose Bulawayo 
Zimbabwe, additional document: corrected copy of invoice." 
This Affidavit lists a mailing address for Pavel Simek at 
Nam. 17 Listopadu 295, 26102 Pribram V11, Czech Republic. 
Attached to the Affidavit was a photocopy of a Government of 
Zimbabwe-issued "Certificate of Exemption from Import/Sales 
Tax and Surtax on Capital Goods" issued to S.I.T Foreign 
Trade Ltd to 22 Wotton Close, Montrose, Bulawayo. This 
Certificate of Exemption lists the goods to be imported as 
"Foreign Assets, gold mining equipment from Pavel Simek" 
with a value of USD 18,292.00. This Certificate was dated 
July 3, 1996. 
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Next Steps 
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13. Consul has turned over all of the DECEASED's personal 
documents, as well as the responsibility for notifying his 
next of kin and handling his estate to her counterpart at 
the Czech Embassy in Harare. Copies of all documents and 
photos are contained in the Embassy file and can be scanned 
and emailed for review. 
14. Post requests Department guidance on how to proceed. Are 
there any further measures necessary to document that the 
DECEASED was not William Taylor? 
 
15. In addition, post requests that DS/ICI/PF initiate an 
investigation into how the DECEASED obtained Mr. Taylor's 
identity. Please also provide guidance concerning fraud 
committed by Vladimir Sabl, his widow, Milena Sablova, and 
former business partners, Petr Jirousek, Pavel Simek and 
Frantisek Pacholik, all of whom CCD indicates may have valid 
US NIVs. 
 
SCHULTZ